Men's Soccer Battles Cougars to 2-2 Tie

Men's Soccer Battles Cougars to 2-2 Tie

FORT WAYNE, IND.  --  The Trine University men's soccer team traveled to Fort Wayne, Ind. to take on the University of St. Francis and battled to a 2-2 double overtime tie.

Trine (5-1-1) outshot St. Francis (3-3-1), 20-13, in the game with 13 of those shots being on net, but it was the Cougars who struck first with a goal at the 6:49 minute mark of the first half to grab the early lead.

The Thunder later evened the score during the 21st minute when Jonathan Slone (Troy, Ohio/Troy Christian) got a shot past the USF goalkeeper to make it a 1-1 game.  Several minutes later, sophomore Nooh Aljabaly (Coldwater, Mich./Coldwater) gave Trine the lead with his team-leading seventh goal of the season during the 27th minute as the Thunder led at halftime, 2-1.

The advantage remained a goal for the visitors until late in the game when St. Francis netted the equilizer with under three minutes to play in regulation and deadlock the contest at 2-2.  The Cougars recorded the final shot attempt before the clock ran out, but the shot sailed wide, forcing overtime.

The only shot taken in the first overtime period came from St. Francis near the midway point of the period, but that shot too missed its mark as the teams remained even at 2-2, resulting in a final overtime.

Trine tallied a pair of shots in the final 10 minutes and were both on goal, but the results ended in two saves for the home squad.  St. Francis also recorded a shot before time expired, but it would be sent wide as there would be no change in score before the game clock expired which ended the game in a 2-2 tie.

Freshman Taylor Medina (Mill Creek, Ind./Rochester) started in net for Trine and played 87:22 while facing eight shots and stopped six of them.  Junior Quinn O'Brien (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) played the final 22:38 and also faced eight shots allowing no goals and had zero saves.

Trine is scheduled to host Huntington University on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Weaver Field.  The game is slated to start at 2 p.m.